A friend recently asked for a recap of the grammar rules for A and An. That reminded me that I’m overdue for a weekly grammar lesson! So here, goes.
Generally, use “an” for words that begin with vowels:
- An apple
- An orange
- An orangutan
- An island
- An elephant
- An ice-cream cone
And “a” for words that begin with consonant:
- A car
- A cat
- A house
- A dog
- A bog
- A boy
- A girl
But, as with most English grammar rules, there are some exceptions:
Sometimes the consonant H has no real sound that you can hear, and then it takes “an.”
- An herb
- An honest man
- An honorable girl
And when U or O sound like the consonants Y or W, they takes “a.”
- A union
- A unicorn
- A one-horned unicorn
- A used tissue
- A US state
And that, my friends, is your 5 Minute Grammar Lesson. Questions?
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Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
You have to love those exception!
Hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!
The names of the letters are a bit confusing with a and an. You say a T, but you say an S because the name of the letter S begins with a vowel sound. The name of the letter T begins with a consonant sound. Most people want to say a S, but that doesn’t even sound right if you think about it. A and An are about the beginning sound of the word that follows which is why you have the differences with words that begin with H. A house versus an hour. It really isn’t about the consonant but the sound.
Omi
Yup. The sound is the reason for the a or the lack of sound is the reason for the an.